Top Three

Question
I was wondering if you would share with me the top three things i would need to know to be a successful highschool swim coach. Thank You for your time.

Answer
Brian--
The three most important things to remember when coaching a high school team are:
1.  Keep it fun.  Most of the kids are only in it for the duration of the high school season.  They may or may not be interested in competing in a year round capacity.  They are there because they may have freinds on the team.
2.  It's a short season so you have to gear your workouts to that fact.  The longest distance is only a 500 so except for those who swim the 200 and 500 a ton of overdistance isn't necessary.  Yes, you do need to do some at the beginning of the season to get the team into shape, don't overdo it throughout the season.
3.  Be interactive with the kids.  Find out how they are doing in school(and stay on top of their studies, don't let them sacrifice school for athletics).  Let them have some input into the training and meets.  And most important in this is, encourage them to ask questions about the training.  When I was in high school, I wanted to know why drills were beneficial, why I needed to change things in my stroke, etc.  When my coach couldn't or wouldn't give me an answer I would get very frustrated and angry at times.  Let them know why they are doing things and if you aren't sure find out, don't guess.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck and have fun,
George
Let me know if you have any other questions.